Petronas fails to overturn RM621,777 award to former executive

KUALA LUMPUR: Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) has been unsuccessful in overturning a court order mandating it to pay RM621,777 to its former executive, Syed Fazal Syed Thajudeen, who was terminated without just cause. High Court judge Alice Loke confirmed the Industrial Court's ruling that Syed Fazal was dismissed without proper justification, despite discovering he had committed misconduct by accepting higher allowances while claiming his children from a previous marriage would join him in Spain, which did not occur.

Syed Fazal, who joined Petronas in 2006, received a scholarship to attend IESE Business School in Barcelona from August 2018 to June 2020, during which he was Petronas' head of internal audit-corporate and group internal audit. Upon realizing his children were not in Spain, Petronas increased his monthly allowance from €2,700 to €3,700 in January 2019 and paid him an extra €9,810 between January and October 2019.

The company later discovered the deception and dismissed Syed Fazal on December 23, 2019. Syed Fazal appealed to the Industrial Court, which ruled in his favor, ordering Petronas to pay RM772,005, comprising RM271,245 in compensation for reinstatement and RM500,760 in backwages. Petronas then sought a judicial review, arguing that the sustained deception had damaged the trust and confidence in Syed Fazal as the head of internal audit.

Loke upheld the Industrial Court's decision, reducing the backwages award by 30% to RM350,532, while maintaining the full compensation amount. She also rejected Petronas' claim that the Industrial Court's decision was irrational, taking into account factors like the lack of criminal proceedings, Syed Fazal's tentative plans to bring his children to Spain, and his impeccable service record.

However, Loke found that the Industrial Court should have considered Syed Fazal's contributory misconduct when determining the relief amount. Both parties were ordered to pay their own legal costs.